'He's different.' Jarace Walker's block gets Pacers veteran teammates out of their seats

LAS VEGAS -- Jarace Walker saw the opportunity coming from the other side of the lane. Wizards guard Quenton Jackson seemed to think he had a clear lane for a violent dunk. Walker had no intention of allowing that to happen.

Walker, the Pacers' rookie power forward and No. 8 overall pick, was defending Washington's Kyle Alexander at the 3-point arc at the left elbow but had his eyes on Jackson the whole way. So when Jackson crossed over and got Pacers guard Isaiah Wong completely turned around and blew past him, Walker took a slide step to his right and then broke toward the bucket. Jackson nearly got to the restricted area without anyone in his field of vision, but Walker got to his right side, leapt up and ripped the ball right from Jackson's right hand immediately after he took off. Jackson's whole body tipped backwards and he spilled onto the floor, unable to land cleanly on his right foot. Walker had not so much blocked his shot as swallowed it whole. He knocked the ball toward Pacers guard Ben Sheppard who pushed it ahead to forward Kendall Brown, who finished a layup and drew a foul for a three-point play that put the Pacers up five points at the end of an otherwise ugly third quarter.

The veteran Pacers who had come to Las Vegas to watch, cheer and hang out but not play in the NBA Summer League lost themselves completely in the moment. All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton, center Myles Turner, guard Buddy Hield and newly-signed free agent Bruce Brown all burst out of their courtside seats across from the Pacers' sideline, pumped their fists and hollered and howled with glee. The ones who stayed seated — Aaron Nesmith, Jordan Nwora and Obi Toppin — were no less vocal. This was what they had come to Saturday's game to see — a sign that their rookie lottery pick was something special.

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It was the sort of moment that makes the NBA Summer League worth watching every year. It's not open to most superstars, as only players with three years of playing experience or less are eligible to play, but it puts the rookies in the center of the spotlight. They usually show flaws, but they also show flashes of the reasons they were drafted in the first place.

The block was Walker's brightest flash.

"He was coming down the lane," Walker said. "I seen him go up and I went. I just got that one."

Walker had his rookie moments Saturday, but he was also true to his scouting report, especially on the defensive end.

The 6-8, 250-pound Walker's greatest asset is his defensive versatility. At both IMG Academy and Houston, he proved he could defend bigs, wings and guards, guarding the perimeter and protecting the rim at the same time with a 7-2 1/2 wingspan and plenty of muscle to box out when the ball came off the rim. At Houston he averaged 1.3 blocks and 1.0 steals and 6.8 rebounds per game on a defense that finished fifth in the nation in adjusted defensive efficiency, second in scoring defense and second in effective field goal percentage defense.

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On Saturday that versatility was clearly there from the opening moments when he picked the pocket of Washington's Bilal Coulibaly, the French guard and former teammate of Victor Wembanyama who the Wizards swapped picks with the Pacers to get with the seventh selection. It was the first of his three steals, and the erasure of Jackson's attempted dunk was one of three blocks. He also rebounded at an even higher level than usual, grabbing 13 rebounds including 11 on the defensive end.

And there were plenty of contributions beyond the stats as Walker helped anchor what at times was a suffocating defensive effort. The Pacers' defense lagged some in the second half, but they held the Wizards to just 10 points on 3-of-18 shooting in the second quarter and 29 points on 12-of-43 shooting in the first half. Even after a respectable second half, the Wizards shot 35.6% from the floor for the game in the Pacers' 91-83 win.

"I felt like I guarded the guards pretty well," Walker said. "Kept them in front. Made them take tough 2s, defended the bigs pretty well too, I got them to miss a couple chips. Overall, I had a pretty good defensive game."

Walker's more seasoned teammates had higher praise. They've been impressed by his high energy level in practice, how vocal he is and how ahead of the game he is in understanding switches, rotations and communication.

"He's different," guard Bennedict Mathurin said. "His presence is unbelievable, his wingspan is great and like I said, I love his energy. That's one thing we're gonna need from him, obviously coming in as a rookie, playing defense, playing hard."

On the offensive end he had his struggles. He was just 3-of-13 from the floor, including 1-of-5 from 3-point range for just eight points. He was asked if that was a product of nerves or jitters, but said that didn't have much to do with it.

"They just weren't falling," Walker said. "They felt good. One of them didn't feel too good, but besides that one they mostly felt good. They weren't too bad of shots. I've just gotta hit."

But Walker found other ways to make a difference. He dished out five assists, making smooth passes both in the half court and in transition and consistently looking to find teammates. He also got one of his buckets purely because of game awareness. A timeout was called in between two of his free throws and when the teams returned from commercial break, he missed the free throw and easily dunked the miss because no one else bothered to try to get the rebound.

"I was shooting the free throw and (the ref) was like, 'Two,'" Walker said. "I was like, 'Brah, I already shot one.' In my head, I was like, if I miss, I know nobody gonna go for it."

It wasn't a dominant performance, and it was an indicator of how far Walker needs to go. But it also showed the strengths that should allow Walker to contribute immediately once the regular season hits.

"The defensive end, he was great," said Jannero Pargo, the Pacers' head coach for Summer League team and a player development assistant the rest of the year. "He can really move his feet, protected the rim some as well, very versatile guy on the offensive end as well as the defensive end. Really helped us a bunch today."

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Pacers' Jarace Walker starts strong on defense in NBA Summer League